Authors of minimum wage fee should maximize spotlight

Minnesota’s plan to spend four years raising its hourly minimum wage until it maxes out at $9.50 and is indexed to inflation certainly is drawing national headlines. The cause of those headlines, though, is surprising.

A self-described mom-and-pop cafe in Stillwater sparked a national debate when the owners began adding a 35-cent “minimum wage fee” to customers’ tabs. Owners Craig and Deb Beemer used the cafe’s Facebook page to explain it this way:

“Our decision to offset the recent increase in minimum wage was what we believed to be the most honest and transparent way to communicate a significant increase in our operating cost. Rather than raise menu prices, we decided to charge a flat fee per guest check.

“While our family is conservative in our views, it was never our intent to make some grand political statement about the minimum wage.”

While the Beemers deserve credit for speaking out, their claims about transparency and not making a political statement ring hollow.

On the former, have they added similar fees when suppliers charge more? On the latter, not only did Craig Beemer contact legislators at the Capitol last session, but he said last week the fee was intended as an attention-getter. To cap things off, the Beemers ended their Facebook statement by inviting Gov. Mark Dayton to lunch to talk about it.

Clearly, that shows politics is their priority so they can hardly gripe about public feedback.

But honestly, as long as they are in the spotlight, they should play it up and push to meet Dayton. They do have some valid points to suggest the 2015 Legislature review.

As this board noted last session, this wage hike simply goes too far. Not only does it push wages higher in markets that already pay more than the federal minimum, but indexing it to inflation automatically raises employers’ costs regardless of economic conditions.

And, as the Beemers contend, such mandates warrant serious consideration of a tip credit. For example, as a border business, they compete with Wisconsin, where the state minimum wage pairs with the $7.25 federal standard and employers are allowed a tip credit. In Minnesota, employers must pay employees full minimum wage in addition to any tips.

Again, the Beemers knew the fee would make a political statement so they deserve all feedback, good or bad. Amid that firestorm, though, they should make the most of the spotlight and push for some needed changes to this plan.